Letter from the Editor

The International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law devotes this issue's special section to civil society in post-conflict situations. In our lead article, the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law comprehensively analyzes the restoration of civil society after a major conflict, including the timing of legal initiatives and their effect on the NGO sector. Next, Eric Brahm, a political scientist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, examines the role of civil society in helping implement "transitional justice," as a step toward fostering the rule of law in post-conflict nations. Next, we consider how young people can help contribute to rebuilding civil society in a conflict's aftermath. The authors are Donald J. Eberly, Honorary President of the International Association for National Youth Service and a longtime civil society author and activist, and Reuven Gal, director of Israel's Civic Service Society.

Finally, Michael D. Layton discusses the failures to comprehend and appreciate civil society in Mexico, on the part of government leaders as well as philanthropists, and the resultant diminution of civil society's vigor. Layton is the Director of the Philanthropy and Civil Society Project, Instituto Tecnológica Autónomo de México.

We gratefully acknowledge our authors for sharing their expertise, as well as Rebecca See for assembling the issue and posting it online.